Oct. 14, 2004 – The St. Croix Anti-Crime Task Force invites residents to participate in exploring a new way to prevent crime — a mounted unit to patrol town and beach areas.
The horseback patrol is approachable, maneuverable and has a quick response time.
Two professionals who have the expertise to train a unit will be at Sand Castle on the Beach, Frederisksted, on Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. On Oct. 20, at the same hour, they will be at the Cormorant Beach Club in Christiansted.
The topic will be forming a horse-mounted patrol unit to reduce crime on St. Croix. The unit would start in the Frederiksted area and expand to Christiansted.
The speakers are representatives of the Mounted Patrol Training Systems, Inc. — Jim McRitchie and Fred Parker of www.mountedpolicetraining.com
A faxed press release that came from Sand Castle on the Beach said, "The economy Of St. Croix, especially Frederiksted, is in dire straits. Officials of the cruise-ship industry cited crime as the primary reason for pulling out of St. Croix in 2002. The Danish Charter Program officially pulled out of Frederiksted in Spring of 2004 for the same reason. Visitors to the island have expressed concern that Frederiksted is a town of closed shops, collapsed houses, slums, alcohol and narcotics abuse. We must expedite visible crime-fighting efforts. We propose to concentrate first on the Frederiksted area, and then expand to Christiansted town. McRitchie and Parker, representatives from Mounted Patrol Training Systems, Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., will be on St. Croix from Oct. 18-22. Their goals are to meet with and listen to the citizens of the island to evaluate our needs, and then make recommendations on how to efficiently and effectively create a horse-mounted unit to patrol the town and beach areas."
The release concludes, "The perception that crime is rampant is keeping this island down. Let's do something about it. Together. Today."
For more information, call Simone Palmer at 772-1200 or Tucker Durand at 773-6394.
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